Witch (The Devil's Roses 4)

"Yes. He took his power. He had to. Ethan had become dark. The darkness ate him up and nothing of the kind shaman was left."

"That’s a sad story.” She yawned.

He lifted her up and laid her down on the bed. He lay next to her and wrapped himself around her, "No sadder than the others. Each of the Roses has a story that can parallel it."

She closed her eyes and savored the heat coming off of him, "But Aleks died, never killing his father or redeeming himself."

"Yes, but at least his curse was lifted."

"How?"

"Henry."

"Henry the brother?"

Oliver nodded against her head, "Dorian went to Henry and swore to him that he would kill Aleks's father and end the pain caused. He also swore something he will never be able to give."

She tilted her head up, "What?"

"That he would get Lillith to bless the remains of his niece and save her soul. The victims of Aleks's dad are haunted. When Ethan made the curse upon Jon he never realized his daughters spirit walked the earth still. He cursed his own child to a lifetime in the in between."

"Aimee's mom."

Oliver nodded, "There are hundreds of them. A lot of them are witches who have yet to reach their age of power. He loves witches."

She shook her head trying to fight the memory of his muzzle trying to leap through the door at Jake.

"I will convince my mom to save them all."

Oliver kissed the top of her head, "Uh huh." She tried not to notice the patronizing tone he took as she drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Thirty

Sam

Seeing her wrapped up in his arms, made him notice the emptiness. He should have been angry that she was sleeping with the fallen. He wondered if she was using her body to trick the angel into giving away from the secrets of the frozen fortress.

He cleared his throat.

Ophelia looked up and fixed the blankets. She blushed looking up at the half naked man in her bed.

"I'll wait for you in the kitchen."

She nodded.

He left the room missing the feeling of being uncomfortable.

Giselle was staring out the window in the hallway. She looked classic leaning against the massive window, hiding from the light.

"You can go out. The sun won't burn you."

She hissed at him, "Says the boy who has never been burned by the sun."

He rolled his eyes, "How's the kingdom going?"

Despair crossed her face, "Not great. I wish Marcus was back. I hate this. Yesterday I had to kill a little boy. He was like three hundred years old and he was this little brat. Anyway he murdered three little girls. Drained them completely."

Sam nodded, "Yeah doesn’t sound great."

She shook her head, "I miss Lydia's. I miss Annabelle. She used to give these baths."

Sam held a hand up, "I know, I know."

She sighed, "I just want to go home. I don’t like it here. Jeeves is sassy too."

Sam rolled his eyes, "Giselle, his name is Hamish for the millionth time. No wonder he's saucy."

She turned her back on the curtain and waved, "Peace out bitch. I'm going to bed."

He shook his head and turned and walked to the kitchen.

Ophelia came running in pulling her shirt on over a tank top.

"What's up?"

"We need to go to Alabama."

She frowned, "What? Why?" She grabbed a bag of marshmallows and started eating them.

"That’s disgusting." She stuck her tongue out.

"Anyway."

He looked out the doorway to the massive kitchen and spoke in a hushed tone, "We need to go find the black witches of the south. They live in some place called Lillian.”

She shrugged, "I'll do anything you want Sam."

He hated his effect on her. He nodded and put a hand out. She touched it and suddenly they were standing in the yard of a small white house.

He sighed when she saw them standing in the yard looking puzzled.

Beth frowned, "Sam?"

He took a step forward, "Aunt Beth."

She hugged him tight, her hand shook slightly.

"Did you find her sweetie?"

"No. Jonathan has her still but the children are safe. Lydia and Annabelle are spoiling them rotten."

She looked past him at Ophelia. He felt her stiffen.

"Why would you bring her here?"

Ophelia looked around, "You know the dark witches?"

Sam held his aunts arms, "This is Ophelia. She is..."

"We know who she is Sam. Why would you bring her here?"

He sighed, "She's done a spell on me and I wanted to know if any of you knew how to reverse it."

Beth felt him with her hands, she squeezed his arm. She looked back at the others starting to come out in the front yard from the other houses surrounding them.

"What have you done?"

Sam shook his head, "I made a mistake."

Beth looked at her, "You have the stain of magic on you. A protection guard spell. Who did it?"

Ophelia looked confused, "I don’t know. I didn’t know I was a witch until like two weeks ago."

"Sam her magic hasn’t come in yet. Why would she have done magic on you if she has limited magic?"

He sighed, "She broke my match for me."

Gasps filled the air around them. Some of the women ran back into their houses. The others held crystals and spoke in hushed tones. Ophelia's face flushed. She looked embarrassed and confused.

"I asked her to do it."

An old woman he didn’t recognize stepped forward, "I know how but it won’t be worth it to you."

He frowned, "Why?"

"You'll be enslaved to her. The only fixing it makes you her blood bond slave."

He thought about Roland and the pain and anguish and shook his head, "There is nothing else?"

"Not unless you go to the black witches. Even then the only fixing it might end up with you matched with the witch who does the spell."

He looked back at Ophelia. Was feeling love worth feeling it for a girl who didn’t love him back but was fixated on him because of his Siren call?

"Okay. Well thanks. We have to go."

He watched as the other witches looked in awe. The older witch he didn’t know spoke to her, "Have you met the others?"

Ophelia shook her head, "What others?"

"Your sisters?"

Ophelia paled, "I have."

"I don’t envy you child."

Ophelia frowned, "Yeah it sounds like an awful lot. I have to kill my brother and my mother, and my sisters will give me their power. Only then can I help defeat my father and free the world from the evil. I feel like Frodo."

A younger witch snickered. Sam smiled at her reference. Aimee had forced the three movies on him a while back. He remembered the feeling of liking them.

Ophelia glanced at him. He nodded, "We have to go. She can't be out and about without attracting her father's attention."

Beth squeezed his hands, "I miss you son. Come home more often."

He hugged Beth, "I will." He wanted to feel the warmth of her. He wanted to enjoy the relief of coming home. But his heart was empty.

He took Ophelia's hand. She squeezed it. He squeezed back. He looked deeply into Beth's dark brown eyes and smiled weakly.

The muggy heat of Alabama hit fast and hard.

He felt the tension of the black magic in the air.

Chapter Thirty-One

Ophelia

The feeling of nausea and disgust filled her as they took their first steps.

"It's hot. It's too hot here. I feel something not good Sam."

He nodded. She couldn’t help but love him in a messed up stalker sort of way. She blushed watching him walk.

"Stay close. I need to be able to flash us instantly."

She watched his lips move when he talked. They were perfect.

"I think we need to go this way." He pointed to a road.

She felt her stomach tighten. She wished Oliver were with her. She felt safe with him, unless he was wearing a dress shirt or anything that let the smallest slip of his tattoos hang out.

"You okay?"

She blushed and smiled at Sam, "Sorry."

He put a hand out, "I need to flash us forward. Probably smart for us to hold hands anyway. Easier for me to flash us home."

His huge warm hand closed around hers. Her heart jumped.

They flashed a few times but the dirty feeling in the air was making her feel sick. She put a hand up, "I'm going to be sick if you do it again."

He nodded, "Sorry I forget not everyone is used to it."

She fought a puke shiver, "I will never be used to that. So gross."

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Suddenly she felt a slice like a knife cut across her hand. She went to pull her hand from Sam's but his grip was intense, "Don’t let go."

She looked up to see a group of women walking toward them, stretched across the road.

'Lillith's daughter, interesting thing to find on the road so far from anywhere.'

She shivered as the voice rolled through her mind like the thunder in the clouds above that had come from nowhere.

'Why have you come, daughter of Lillith?'

She stopped and stood her ground, "Uh look my name is Ophelia. You can call me O or some variation of that but I'm not digging Lillith's daughter much. I'm here for a spell."

"You bring a Siren with you?" A dark haired woman with black eyes asked.

A blonde chubby lady next to her laughed, "Not just any Siren, sister. He is Nephilim if I'm not mistaken."

"I can smell that in the air. He smells like sex and chocolate. How can you stand to be near him?"

"I'd eat a tasty little treat like that."

They laughed.

Ophelia looked at him and smiled. She couldn’t fight the blush that crossed her cheeks even though she was terrified of the black witches.